§ CAPTAIN DONELANI beg to ask the Postmaster General whether he is aware that, by promptly utilising the special mail service, American letters landed at Queenstown ex Etruria at 7.30 p.m. on Friday last were delivered in London and other large English centres sufficiently early on Saturday to allow ample time for reply by the outgoing steamer Lucania on Sunday; and whether the terms offered for the continuation of this special service have been accepted by the various Companies interested?
§ MR. A. MORLEYI am aware of the facts mentioned in the first paragraph. I have also come to an understanding with the various companies concerned for the continuance of the special service up to the 31st December next.
§ CAPTAIN DONELANI wish to ask the right hon. Gentleman whether his attention has been called to a letter in today's Daily News from a London merchant, stating that his American correspondence did not reach his office until after 1 o'clock on Saturday afternoon, though it was due at 10 a.m.
§ MR. A. MORLEYNo, Sir; I have not seen the letter.
§ MR. SWEETMAN (Wicklow, E.)I beg to ask the Postmaster General whether, in his late offer to continue for another four months the special postal service from Queenstown to London, he has offered the London and North Western Railway Company 3s. a mile for express trains, and has offered the Great Southern and Western Railway of Ireland only 2s. a mile for a similar service; and, if he has done so, whether he is willing to inform the House of his reasons for offering less to a Railway Company in one portion of the United Kingdom than to a Railway Company in another portion of that Kingdom for similar services?
§ MR. A. MORLEYThe answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. The reason why a payment of 2s. a mile was offered to the Great Southern and Western Railway Company was because that was the rate originally mentioned by the Company, and corresponded with the payment quoted by the Company for special trains in the opposite direction.